History has a way of repeating itself and if the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 7 Clarksville Day follows that rule, expect 3,000 people at the little ghost town in El Dorado Hills.
Located behind Town Center off White Rock Road, near Highway 50, the ghost town was settled in the mid-1850s, according to Betty January with the Clarksville Region Historical Society.
She’s also the point person for the annual festival honoring the town.
It’s a family friendly event with wagon rides, Pony Express re-mount demonstrations, Mormon Battalion re-enactors (complete with a cannon), food vendors and a classic car parade.
The free bash is one of three big events that day — “Rediscover Historic Folsom” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sutter Street (also free) and the Toast to Education at David Girard Vineyards in Placerville. The 4:30 p.m. winetasting and dinner benefits the Buckeye Education Foundation. Tickets are $100 per person. For more info on that one, hit their website at toasttoeducation.org.
Time warp
Speaking of history, the second-graders at Empire Oaks Elementary really got into their reports. Pam McAtee sewed the outfits for her granddaughters, Regan and Kilee McAtee (see photo inset). According to Pam, the students chose a figure from history and presented a report on them, while dressed as that person. Regan chose Laura Ingalls Wilder and Kilee chose Florence Nightingale.
Flashback
If you happened to spot a retired city of Folsom employee around town earlier this month, you weren’t having flashbacks.
Gene Reed, who used to work for the city, and his wife Dodie celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 2. The couple now resides in Yerington, Nev., but returned for the big bash with family and friends.
The couple has three children and four grandchildren.
Congratulations.
Reader feedback
A longtime reader named Bobbi called and asked about the Telegraph’s criteria for publishing stories or other tidbits.
“I’ve sent things in and they haven’t been in the paper,” she told me. “I see more stories from outside of Folsom lately and you aren’t publishing as much reader submitted material. What is your criteria for deciding what makes it in the newspaper?”
Good question. I would say in the three years I’ve been here, we publish more reader submitted material now than when I started.
For events, send your information at least two weeks prior to the desired publication date. We can’t guarantee it will make it in our calendar, but we do try.
There are a lot of events vying for ink.
Photos that aren’t high resolution (such as those taken with a cell phone) probably won’t be printed because of quality issues. Photos should be of the highest quality and include the first and last names of those in the photograph, from left to right.
If you’re submitting an item about someone in the community who did a good deed, provide contact information for that person and a description of why you think they deserve a story.
Bobbi also took issue with the Telegraph printing a photograph of some Oak Ridge High School students who participated in a Rotary Club of El Dorado Hills speech contest. She said there were speech contests held in Folsom that were ignored.
She has a point. Basically, reporter Laura Newell and I can’t be everywhere and that’s why I ask readers armed with a camera to submit photographs of those types of events.
Personally, I attended two speech contests (judging one), but there were many more happening within that time frame.
Thanks for your call, Bobbi.
Odds & Ends
John McGinness, retired Sacramento County sheriff and KFBK radio personality, is scheduled to speak to the Rotary Club of Historic Folsom at the 7 a.m. April 28 meeting at Lake Natoma Inn. Cost is $15 and includes breakfast. For more information, visit historicfolsomrotary.org.
Submit your story ideas, service club info or photographs to me a t the e-mail address listed below.
Don Chaddock is the managing editor of the Telegraph. He can be reached at donc@goldcountrymedia.com.